Betfair....Does anyone use it?

[whitevanman88]

Numerous people keep wittering on at me about this betfair malarky.

As far as I understand, you're betting directly against other people? Rather than a bookie?

And (the major point people keep making to me) you can act as a bookie etc...?

Is it worth looking at? Or just a pile of manure?

[ShadownINja]

There was a thread a year ago on it. I don't understand it as I'm fick. Lay... back... odds... what?

Hm... quite a few more than I expected... http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/search4.asp?h=0...

Edited by ShadownINja on Sunday 18th April 15:37

[Mojooo]

IT used to offer better odds if you were doing a normal bet - not sure if it still does

yes you can be the bookie and lay but it can be risky/espensive if you lose

[V8mate]

They also do more conventional betting on popular stuff, e.g. last week's Grand National.

I use them for the odd bet; probably continue to use them out of habit rather than anything else. The interface is lousy and it's really hard to do the easiest of things.

[chrismcg1]

I am not really a betting man - BUT do enjoy the odd silly bet on betfair - for my sins I support Barnet and always put a half time / full time bet on - just £2 on each bet - Saturday netted £70! (Unfortunately Barnet lost but hey-ho!) This has come in about 4 times this season. Sometimes in the pub watching a match its good to have a little punt - can do via mobile.

[schwarz993]

I'm a regular punter on betfair... Apart from live odds during the game, you can 'lay' a team / scoreline instead of just backing, so you're able to trade intra-game. Has worked quite well for me although i've had a bit of a bad run of late.

Example for anyone who's not familiar with it:
Back Spurs to beat Chelsea at 3.00 (this is how Betfair displays the odds and means your profit is 200% if Spurs win)
Spurs score a goal and their odds tighten to 1.80-1.85. (Back - Lay)
This means you can now only make 80% if you place a new bet on Spurs to win. If you want to 'unwind' your trade, you lay Spurs at 1.85, which means you are liable to pay out 85% if Spurs win.

If you've backed Spurs at 3.00 and layed them at 1.85 (same size bet) you make a 115% profit if they win.


Needless to say, it's addictive

[wiggy001]

Mojooo said:

IT used to offer better odds if you were doing a normal bet - not sure if it still does

yes you can be the bookie and lay but it can be risky/espensive if you lose

I use it for the odd bet on the Grand Prix, Grand National, Boxing etc and the odds are generally better than the bookies'. A good bet for me is to back the second/third man on a grand prix grid to be first lap leader... doesn't often happen but nice when it does. :-)

[RIPmgmetro]

I've used them for a while now. It's already been mentioned that the website's interface isn't the best but the one major flaw for me is that you can't put multiple bets (doubles, trebles etc) on using their mobile site.